


Johnny’s Fight

by lettuce172



Category: The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29829231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lettuce172/pseuds/lettuce172
Summary: warning for non-graphic violence :)
Relationships: Johnny Cade/Dallas Winston
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Johnny’s Fight

**Author's Note:**

> warning for non-graphic violence :)

“Hey Dal!” Johnny called for me as I walked out of Buck’s. I turned back. His face was bloody and bruised and he had a real bad limp to his walk. My heart dropped, I hadn’t ever seen Johnny this hurt, not even from his old man. 

I walked to Johnny so he didn’t have to struggle anymore. “Hey, kid, what happened to ya, man?” I asked, looking at the blood dripping from the cut on his cheek. Gosh, whoever did this was in for a hell of a ride when I found them. Maybe they’d end up dead, but I wanted them to suffer more than they made Johnny. 

“I don’t know, man,” he murmured. He brought his arm to his cheek, wiping the blood off. I swear I thought he’d faint any second after that. He really did have a nasty cut, real deep into his face, too. “I just,” he paused for a moment, “some damned Socs saw me, I think they were drunk. They sure acted it if they were. I tried yellin’ for y’all but I guess they shut me up pretty quick huh,” he spoke, almost like he could feel each hit he was remembering again. Maybe he could, because he winced in pain every now and again. 

Slinging my arm around his shoulders to keep him up, I said, “C’mon John, let’s get you to my room, we can use one of Tim’s old shirts to clean up that cut. Got any others?” He didn’t say anything, just nodded. Of course there were more, of course. Boy, those Socs sure were building a reputation for themselves, they’d be dead before they knew it. Man, they might as well be dead now, it’d be better for them. 

We got to my room, and honestly it was pretty hard. Johnny’s limp didn’t get any better, and gosh, those stairs were anything but fun to help him up. “Kay John, where’s the rest of ‘em?” I asked, pressing a cloth with some alcohol on it to the cut of his cheek. He flinched, but let me keep going. I know that stuff burns, but I had to do it. Keeping his silence, he pulled off his jacket. His shirt was covered in crimson red blood around a slice in it. It reached from his lower rib to his waist, but it wasn’t too deep. 

“The other’s on my leg,” Johnny mumbled.

“I’ll get that one in a second, man. I gotta fix this one up first. Stay right here, ya hear?” I cocked an eyebrow. He nodded. “Good. I’m gonna go ask Buck somethin’. Hold that cloth right there, got it?” I moved my hand from the cloth I was pressing on his cut so he could get a grip on it. “Don’t you go takin’ that thing off. I don’t wanna clean up more blood than I gotta. Keep pushin’ down too.”

Johnny was holding it to the cut like I said, so I left. Everyone downstairs was real loud, especially compared to Johnny. Buck wasn’t dealing with anyone just then, so I pulled him to another room. It was still loud, but this was the best we were going to get. Closets aren’t usually used for partying anyways. 

“Whatcha need Dally?” he almost had to shout. At a party this wild, he knew something had to be wrong since I wasn’t out talking to one of the pretty girls at the bar or drinking. Well, I probably wouldn’t have pulled him into a closet if I didn’t need something either. 

I looked around the closet, trying to see what he had. “You got any of those bandages, man? I was gonna use a cut up shirt, but I don’t know if that’ll work for this one. It’s uh, it’s a pretty gnarly cut. Right down the side, man. Like that one kid the town over. Rusty? Rusty-James, I think. His was deeper, though. No bones showin’ on this kid, thank God.”

“Bad cut huh? That why you was bringin’ that kid up there? Yeah, man, he looked pretty beat up,” he said, starting to walk out. “Might got some upstairs. I don’t know how much yesterday’s brawl took. They were both pretty messed up. Man, you shoulda seen it. ‘Betcha could’ve won if you were there. They were pretty big guys, though,” he continued, heading up the stairs with me. 

We looked over what he had and grabbed the bandages. “I’ll put ‘em back when I get what I need,” I told him, already making my way out the door. I had left Johnny alone longer than I wanted to already, I couldn’t keep using my time like this. 

I got back to my room, seeing Johnny resting his head on the wall. Man, he looked like he could see the damn Grim Reaper standing in the corner, waiting for the exact moment he was gone. “Hey, John, take that rag off the cut will ya? I got some bandages so you don’t gotta hold that thing there the whole night,” I told him, unraveling the roll. He listened real well, not like it was much to do, but he sure did it. Getting him wrapped up was pretty easy, probably because he didn’t make a huge fuss like a little kid. There were a few hisses of pain when I pulled them too tight, but he tried to keep them back. 

“Man, you almost done?” he asked, sounding tired. 

“Yeah, Johnny, almost.” I wrapped the bandages around him a couple more times, then backed away. “There. Now don’t go messin’ that up, ya hear?” He just nodded. Not like Johnny would purposely mess it up. I cleaned up the rest of his cuts, which wasn’t that hard. It was pretty bloody, though. That one on his cheek would scar, I knew it. Kind of made him look like a pal I had back in New York, that guy would get in fights even if he knew he’d lose. He just wanted the thrill. Man, he was fun. 

Johnny seemed just about ready to fall asleep. If he had the chance I’m sure he would. His eyelids were tugging themselves down and he was leaning his whole body on the wall. I’ll bet limping all the way to Buck’s didn’t exactly boost his energy. I tried to get his attention after a minute or two, but he didn’t even look at me. He must’ve fallen asleep. He was already on the bed, I just laid him down. I wasn’t too thrilled about the blood from his shirt getting on the mattress, but what was I going to do? Put him on the floor? No way. 

There wasn’t much to do, so I left. Johnny could stay put until I came back, anyways. He told me a couple things about those Socs, like the car they were in and that one of them had some rings. Damn, he wouldn’t shut up about those rings. They were the things that cut his cheek. The guy punched him across the face. For rings, they went deep. 

The air was cold, it matched the silence of town. There were a couple people, but they weren’t being loud. It was late, too, so most things were closed. That’s probably why it was like that. The corner store’s light was on, brightening up the sidewalk and street. I went in, just to look around. I couldn’t afford jail time when I had to find those guys who got Johnny. I’d go to jail for killing them, sure, but not some stupid shoplifting now. 

The car. 

That was their car. Johnny said it was a blue Mustang. This was a blue Mustang. Those aren’t just everywhere around here. I pushed past the couple looking at magazines together and went straight out the door. I was following that car. I wasn’t stopping until they did and I’d get them. I’d get them real good. 

It slowed down after not too long in some alleyway. They must’ve seen me or heard my shouting. Three guys got out. The guy from the driver’s side, some preppy guy, had big rings on his left hand. Rings that could definitely cut up someone’s cheek. He took a drink from his flask, tossing it in the car and slamming the door. A dopey grin grew on his lips. Man, I’d knock that right off. It’d be the first thing I’d do. 

“Lookie here, boys, we got that kid’s guard dog. Someone’s mad his little friend got beat up,” the first Soc sneered. The other two snickered. “I think Winston here’s lookin’ to match his pal, ain’t he boys?” he said as the three of them took a few steps forward. 

That’s all I remember from them. I could maybe recall a couple blurred moments of fighting and them driving off, but I could never give details about it. I guess I had a busted lip and some bloody knuckles to show for it, though. I got away better than the Socs did, they could barely get themselves back in the car. That could’ve been the alcohol too, though. 

I was making my way to Buck’s, which definitely felt longer than normal, probably since I was pretty hurt. I can’t imagine what it was like for Johnny, he was banged up even worse than me. I wonder how long it took him to get to Buck’s. I doubt he’d know the answer if I asked him. He was probably just focused on finding one of us and trying to stop his bleeding. 

The noise only got louder as I opened the door, leaving a pounding sensation in my head. It eased as I made my way upstairs, opening the door to the room I was staying in. Johnny was still out, good. He seemed like he could sleep for a good while if I let him. I closed the door, making sure not to let it slam. Doors slamming always scared Johnny. 

His bleeding had stopped, but I had a couple cuts I wanted to take care of. For a three on one fight, I’m surprised I only got a few. These might not even scar too bad. Grabbing a new cloth and wiping off the blood that ran from my forehead to my cheek, I looked in the mirror. Man, I did not look too great. My face was pale, my eyes seemed tired, and my hair was in a jumbled mess of blond. One look at me and you’d think I either just got out of a fight or rose from the grave. I mean, I had enough blood on me to match one of those over-exaggerated zombies from a movie. 

I heard the sheets move, so I looked back. Johnny was up. “Hey kid, you oughta go back to sleep, I bet you need it,” I told him. He yawned quietly, stopping halfway through and holding his stomach. His eyes squeezed shut for a moment, opening slowly as he pushed himself to sit up straight. 

“Nah man, I ain’t gonna be able to sleep much anyways. Dal, you try sleepin’ with a split down the middle of ya,” Johnny groaned. Now that I think of that, it probably hurt real bad even just laying down. He looked at me, freezing up almost immediately. “Gee Dally, what happened to you? I don’t remember hearing a bar brawl downstairs.”

I let out a small laugh. “C’mon John, don’t worry about it. Don’t go worryin’ ‘bout them Socs neither. They ain’t gonna hurt you,” I said, running my fingers through my hair. Strands of hair wrapped around my fingers, some darkened by blood, that were getting pulled out of my scalp. 

“Well why wou-” he cut himself off, realization settling on his face. “Dallas tell me you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t go after him man, please,” he said, seeming at least a little worried. “Man they’ll kill you I swear it. Dal they ain’t gonna give up, tell me you didn’t do it.”

I tugged my shirt down at the collar, showing some of the cuts they tried to land on my neck. “Johnny I ain’t gonna lie to ya, I did it.” His expression fell. 

“Dally,” he sounded a little annoyed as he tried to get up. He let out a groan of pain, but pushed through and stood. “Dally, that’s probably the dumbest thing you’ve ever done. You do a lot of stupid things Dallas. Think about this. Just for a second, man. Think about it. They’ll– They’ll get a bunch of guys and they’ll hunt you down Dal! They’ll get away with it too! I don’t want ‘em cuttin’ you up like they did me, you savvy?”

I tried to get him to sit back down. “I’ll be fine, kid,” I mumbled, putting my hand on his arm and gently pulling him down. He tried to keep himself up, but gave in after only a few seconds. 

“Yeah I know,” he murmured, leaning his back against the wall. “I just, you go gettin’ roughed up like this so much, one of these times you’re gonna get killed Dally. You are.” He seemed genuinely worried, like he actually thought I’d get myself killed. No way, no day. He probably just wasn’t thinking about all the fights I had won. I had a reputation for winning, so if I lost, it wouldn’t be to the extent of death. I guess I couldn’t prove it to him until I died for real, and I still had a good twenty or thirty years before that happened. Yeah, twenty or thirty years.


End file.
